room414 said:
The truth is that we are completely at the mercy of forces beyond ourselves. It's a very difficult thing for the human ego to accept though so it deludes itself. The rapist, like the rest of us, is at the mercy of theses forces but that doesn't justify his behavior or free him from the penalty of it. I kind of see it like cattle(or sheep and goats if you prefer) being herded. The cow can choose to stop and eat grass, it can go with the flow, it can even try to run away but ultimately it's destination is determined by the one doing the herding. |
Good grief, now that is some serious nonsense. Ethnicity, location, appearance, intelligence, abilities, upbringing, etc. may limit or expand your choices, but they don't replace free will. Yes there are forces beyond our control. That is as obvious to a child as it is to me and you. But we are fully responsible for the choices we make. We are not cattle, we don't just decide which way to move based on how hungry we are. We are presented with hundreds of choices a day and we make our decisions based on what we think is best in that situation. Our personal history gives us the knowledge we use to make those decisions.
Everybody seems to like simple examples. Ok here's one. A boy is born to a poor family in a poor community in a poor nation in Africa. At 10 years old his father is dead and is mother is sick and can't work to pay for medicine. He has no education. You might think he has no choice and is forced to either work or steal to provide for his family. But you would be wrong. He has many choices, good and bad. He could abandon his mother or find a mission to help. He could smoother her to death or pull her on a cart to a hospital and beg for help. He could pull her on a cart to another town and then to another until he reaches another country and so on until he reaches a nation with opportunities for a better future for himself and his mother who may or may not have survived the journey. There are so many factors that affect us, but they do not dictate us. We are free to choose.
Here's another one. A girl witnesses a bully force another boy to hand over his lunch money. The girl could try to intervene and stand up to the bully. Well that might be dangerous so maybe she could just tell on him. Or maybe she has defense training and feels confident. But if she did turn the bully in some people might make fun of her for being a snitch. Maybe she doesn't care what other people thinks. She could go up to the boy and give him advice on how to deal with bullies or share her lunch with the boy. She could tell her parents about it and ask what she should do if anything. She could start up an anti-bully student activist club that patrols the halls and alerts faculty. She could ignore it and go about her business like nothing happened. She could even think it's a good idea and bully other kids for their lunch money to make some money on the side.
We are not androids programmed to react only in one way. We are complex intelligent beings with souls. We choose to do what right or wrong. We are responsible for our actions. An abused child could grow up to abuse or council the abused or neither. Being abused is no excuse to abuse others. Free will is what makes us human beings. Animals may appear to be free, but they aren't making the kinds of complex decisions that we make. Choose what plant to eat is not the same as choose which restaurant to boycott.
We are free.
